Friends?
by Silverspiritowl
Summary: Heisuke met an interesting young man while drinking with Sano and Shinpachi. Kenshin was cornered by three of his enemies who decide to make him their new friend.
1. First Enconter

I own neither Hakuouki nor Rurouni Kenshin.

I was sitting in a corner nursing a cup of sake, as had become habit recently, when I saw them come in. There were three of them, two tall ones and one who was not all that much taller than myself and at first I only noticed them because they were even louder than the normal people who came in here. Then I almost immediately realized two other reasons to notice them; one they were, from what I could remember, Shinsengumi, and two, they were headed straight for me.

Shinpachi, Sano and I had just been let off duty and were now heading downtown for some celebratory drinks. Today we had found one of the elusive Ronin and that meant a party, even if it was only the three of us. It was at times like these that I kind of missed Ryunsuke, even if he could be a bit moody he would still celebrate with us. But he was gone and it was no good thinking about him. Much better to have fun with my friends who are still here.

"So, Shinpat-san, remember when we caught him?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, Sano looked all scary and cracked his knuckles and I swear be wet his pants!" he laughed in response, Sano mimicking what he was describing with enthusiasm.

Suddenly I saw one of the perceived shadows move, I blinked then looked harder and made out a small teenager with hair that in this lighting looked the exact color of blood. He seemed to be kind of depressed and I wondered if he had lost anyone to the Ronin or, god forbid, the Shinsengumi. Shimpat-san and Sano noticed my distraction and followed my gaze, seeing the redhead they grinned.

"Someone looks down over there, what you say to bringing him into the fun?" Sano said, grinning at Shinpachi and me.

"I'm game, you Heisuke?" they both turned toward me "What you say?"

"Sure, let's" and with that we headed towards the kid.

I looked around to see where they were going then realized that they were headed for me. They came up to my table and I immediately regretted sitting in a corner. I was trapped with three Shinsengumi and no escape.

"Hey kid, I'm Heisuke, he's Shinpachi and he's Sano. Who are you?" the smallest of the trio said. I looked them up and down and decided that for the moment it was safe.

"Himura.." I mumbled.

"Sorry, what was that?" one of the bigger ones, Shinpachi I think, asked.

"Himura." I said slightly loader this time.

"Himura what?" asked the smallest, Heisuke. He was met with silence.

"Oh come on. We told you our names so your turn." The other big one, Sano, said. He was also met with silence. He waited a minute before reaching over and punching me in the head with what he probably thought was a light hit, much like Shishou would.

"Come on what's your name?" he said. "You might want to just tell him, Sano can be scary when annoyed." The other two informed me.

"Kenshin" I said wile nursing my sore head.

"What's that?" Sano asked.

"Kenshin, my name."


	2. sake for comrades

I own neither Hakuouki nor Rurouni Kenshin.

It had been about a week since I met Heisuke, Sano and Shinpachi and had also been about a week since I went anywhere near anywhere that sold sake. Well it seemed that was about to end since my comrades had decided that a party of some sort was long overdue and so I found myself headed towards the nearest shop that sold good sake.

Upon entering the shop I ran into the very person I had been avoiding, Heisuke-kun.

"Hi there Kenshin!" just great. First my comrades went crazy and then I just had to run into my insane Shinsengumi "friend".

"Heisuke, what are you doing here?" I asked while looking for the sake I was supposed to be bringing back.

"The others sent me out to get sake. You?" only then did I notice that Heisuke was also carrying a lot of sake bottles.

"Some _friends _sent me out for sake as well." I said gesturing at the multiple bottles I was carrying.

"Heh, what a coincidence. Well, I have to go, Shinpat-san and Sano will hunt me out if I'm late with the sake." He began to adjust his bottles.

"Yeah my _friends_ are the same." I began to walk away when I hear behind me

"See you Kenshin." I stop for a minute before answering.

"Yeah see you"


	3. Midnight Races part 1

It had been about two weeks since i had made my new friend and had not run into him in awhile but then, i had been rather busy. Tonight so far, promised to be rather normal, there was only minimal disturbance and the ronin seemed to only be out in their normal amount.

I leaned back against the wall of the inn we were watching for any suspicious activity and turned to Shinpachi.

"Hey, remember that redhead we met a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, Kenshin or something right?" he responded.

"Do you think he still around?" i asked.

"If he has any sense he far away now." he said. I laughed although Shinpachi was right, anybody who valued their skin was leaving Kyoto before these nightly skirmishes turned these alleys into rivers of blood.

"Probably, except he did seem like the type that doesn't really." We stood there and thought about what was happening to our country and the result if we should fail. It was not a very pleasant idea.

Suddenly an alarm blared through the stillness not far from us and we rushed towards the sound. When we got there a gruesome sight awaited us. Five of our comrades lay in a pool of blood in varying states of pieces. Fighting down the urge to throw up i leaned down and began to look at the wounds to try to figure out the sword style, and, by extension, the killer. I then noticed that all of the strokes were of a style i had never encountered before, one that based on that all five had expressions of shock and their swords only half drawn, relied on speed and surprise, so that meant that the killer was a Hitokiri or assassin.

"Hey, Shinpachi, you know, this is a totally new level."


	4. Midnight Races part 2

"Hey, Shinpachi, you know, this is a totally new level."

We stood back and stared at the butchered remains of our comrades for a while, remembering how only a few hours ago they were joking and laughing with the new recruits. Now staring at their cooling corpses that seemed like an eternity ago. Then, out of the corner of my eye i saw something white fluttering next to the bodies. I walked over and, full of an apprehensive curiosity, picked it up. It was peice of paper and on it it said Tenchu, Divine Justice.

"Shinpachi, come look at this." i said, barely controlling the rage in my voice. These were some of my comrades and they had been killed in cold blood and their murderer claimed to be an instrument of Divine Justice?

"The Bastard." he hissed after quickly reading the note. Unable to say anything at the moment i nodded.

"Heisuke, the killer may still be around. Let's spread out and search the area." I nodded again then turned into the shadows that led to the other dark alleys of the capital.

Running through the backstreets i looked for anyone wearing the colors of the rebels. Then, out of the corner of my eye i saw a distinct flash of red. Turning i followed it until it reach one of the rare streetlights and i saw who it was.

"Kenshin?"I called to confirm that.

The figure flinched and stepped deeper into the shadows.

"Heisuke, what are you doing here?" yep, definitely Kenshin.

"My job. What are you doing out this late?" I tried to approach him but he shrank back into the shadows that blanketed Kyoto at night.

"Kenshin, what's wrong?" I took a step towards him. Suddenly he turned and sped down the alley almost too fast for my eyes to follow.

"Damn it, Kenshin!" I took off after him. He led me on a wild chase across Kyoto, over roofs, down the alleys and through the dark, hidden areas that almost nobody ever went until I finally I caught up with him.

"Damn are you fast..." i leaned on the wall, panting, while he stood not far off completely unfurled. It was mildly infuriating...

"Heisuke... just leave me alone." and with that he turned and slipped out of the alley like a shadow. But as he stepped into the crowded lit street i thought i saw blood on his cloths...

"...Kenshin...?

_a massive thanks to those who reveiwed... you helped get me out of the dreaded block._


End file.
